Bittersweet Candy Bowl

I searched all over and didn't find a thread for this, to my surprise. So far I have to say the writing is excellent, characterization is top-notch and the art has evolved quite a bit since its .

Introduction page for new readers..

Today's (25/11/11) comic.

I think a forum here didn't exist because it has its own forum on its own website.

So does Order Of The Stick.

edited 7th Jan '12 5:24:00 PM by God_of_Awesome

I'm actually internet friends with the author and her husband. They're nice enough people, when you don't get on their bad sides. XD

This is extraordinarily depressing. Not that that's a bad thing, but... jeez.

Also, some of the later art there is drop-dead gorgeous.

Can we revive this thread? Because the events going on in the comic currently are pretty interesting.

So... raise your hands. Who here thinks the current chapter is a dream?

Wait, there's people that think this isn't a dream?

I like to think that Mike, consumed with guilt, has created a separate, Lucy-esque personality in his subconscious. Kinda like Norman Bates and his mom.

Though it is probably just a dream.

edited 30th Jan '16 10:47:48 AM by n341100

New page!

I think Mike is legitimately losing his mind, here.

I think this could be Mike's way of dealing with bottled up emotions and ideas. Then again, that's probably just the Freud lover in me talking. It's probably nothing that deep.

But who knows?

EDIT: Looking at what we've been given so far, it's possible that Sandy herself is just a hallucination of his if we're going down that path. It's the title that confuses me. "Dial Tone"? What does that mean?

Does anyone have any ideas?

edited 1st Feb '16 9:27:00 PM by golgothasArisen

He wakes up (That is, of course if this is a dream) tries to call someone, likely Lucy or Sandy.

A: The comic ends as soon as he hears the dial tone, leaving the following conversation a mystery.

B: We see a separate phone ring from somewhere else, with the caller ID showing Mike's name. (Again, we don't see who picks up, what they talk about, or even if they pick up at all.)

D: He hangs up as soon as he hears the dial tone, likely because he's nervous.

At least that's how I could see this going down.

Anyone else feel like the author is just stretching for drama at this point? There could be a variety of reasons why she didn't pick up, not that she's neglecting him. Not to mention how late it is. The needless drama plus her endless ways of treating Paulo like her Creator's Pet is just getting old.

Okay, I might as well get this topic of this great comic up and running again. I know that the comic is already up to chapter 96 now, but I still can't seem to wrap my head around the First Kiss that Mike and Lucy had in that flashback of Chapter 63 Pillow Talk. Like, could that kiss be considered a Forceful Kiss at all by any chance? I am only asking out of curiosity, because in that chapter I can't seem to tell whether Lucy was actually wanting/enjoying the kiss (maybe beginning to unconsciously have feelings for him as well) and pushed him away out of her not understanding what she was feeling or if Mike was just planted it on her and she pushed him away because it was unwanted. I don't know, Lucy is a hard character to read in terms of what her feelings really are, even for a type-A tsundere. Though, I guess the author kind of made her that way on purpose to get the reader's attention and to imagine what she truly feels.

Now that I think about it, screw my last post. I am just gonna comment how all the fans seem to be cheering for Lucy and badmouth Mike and call him the ultimate bad guy in this situation, The Scrappy even, and that's usually reserved for side characters, and how I am sick of it! Now remember, I can't control minds, I am just voicing my opinion. I read the whole comic though front to back and in my opinion, while it doesn't excuse that Mike did a bad thing, I still can't seem to see him as this evil asshole that most of the fans see him as. Yes, he went way too far when it came to calling Lucy out on her behavior, yes Lucy was trying to improve her behavior around him, and yes what he did is kind really on the thin line between Moral Event Horizon and forgivable but not forgettable, but we all have to remember that these main characters are still teenagers. Plus, he wasn't around to see Lucy's Character Development, I just see this situation as more of a tragedy that could have been avoided had they been honest with each other's feelings from the start rather than bottle it all up and release all at once when it is too late. Then again, we wouldn't have an entertaining drama story otherwise. Surprisingly, despite all of the storminess in the comic right now, I am still a Lucy X Mike fan, but I will accept Mike X Sandy if that ultimately becomes canon at the end of the comic. Wish I could write more but this should be good.

I kind of agree. Even though Mike has a tendency to not accept responsibility for his actions and while I do feel he went way too far in dealing with Lucy, I do think the fans are way too hard on him. Also, I don't think that he and sandy will stay together long.

I wouldn't say he doesn't take responsibility for his actions, as he did apologize to Lucy for (unintentionally?) abandoning her for Sandy while they were third grade. I could agree though that by the time he does take responsibility, the damage has usually already been done. In terms of his relationship with Sandy, yeah, I kind of agree that it probably isn't gonna last long either. How they break up though remains to be seen, as well as what effects it would have on Mike's (already sort-of damaged) psyche and what major turning point it could have on the storyline. I have read chapter 97 pages that have so far been printed and judging by what the author wrote about it, she kind of implies that its not gonna end well by the end.

In terms of how I have a couple of theories:

1.) Paulo and Lucy confront Alejandro and his crew. Fighting ensues (maybe Mike and/or Augustus intervenes and helps out).

2.) Paulo and Lucy run into Mike at the carnival (probably only there because his parents are out and they ask Mike to take Haley and Chris out, I don't think Mike would be that stalker-ish given the rejection he got for trying to apologize). Tons of arguing (maybe turns into physical fighting, either Mike Vs. Lucy or Mike vs. Paulo, one of the latter tries to break up the fight, makes an already bad situation worse.)

3.) Same as number two, except this time baby Chris gone missing, and they agree (reluctantly on Lucy's side) to help Mike find him.

4.) Paulo brings up Mike and Lucy's ex-friendship to her and she argues with him about, he tries to defuse her (maybe ask her to talk to Mike about it), but she will have none of it and go Hulk on him lol XD.

edited 1st Jun '17 9:51:25 PM by darklord2216

Well, it's official. After reading the latest comic post on their website, at this point, I think the author is trying to end it without any ships sailing. Let's see the list of ships sunk so far:

Pretty much all of Paulo's relationships and Fan ships (though Paulo x Daisy might be a possibility), Mike x lucy (though optimistic that it could be resurrected at a later point), Mike x Daisy, and Daisy x Abby.

Really the only ships that could ever be close enough to canon right now are either the Gay ships on the 2017 relationship chart or Mike x Sandy (even that has signs of cracking). Then again, this is a drama comic, whaddaya expect?

Bump.

So, here's the new page

https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c100/p13.html

Man, Mike was being a prick in this one. He didn't have to slam Paulo into the table.

Paulo just wanted to check on him. That]s what friends do.

edited 17th Jan '18 10:47:45 AM by pointless233

Yeah, I kinda agree somewhat. Honestly, if Mike keeps going down this route he may eventually turn into the cat version of Darth Vader from Star Wars (pre-cyborgization and burning on Mustafar). I think I understand why Mike became this way though. I recently red a blog here in terms of possible fan explanation: http://irenezelle.tumblr.com/post/169912723872 . Gonna have to type it in to find out, but its pretty good character analysis. Plus, I think another reason as to why Mike is so obsessed with Sandy and having a "perfect" relationship at this point is more from the past. Growing up and throughout the course of the series, Mike has always had toxic friendships; Lucy and Paulo used to bully him quite a bit (Lucy's Cerebus Retcon abuse of him played off as slapstick and Paulo with the girls yelling "cheater" as they beat him up just to name a few), and most of the others would do nothing to intervene (except for Daisy, but she only paid lip service to it). Add to the fact that most of the time, the adults didn't intervene either (except in Lucy's case but that's a different thing. Sandy is basically the one person, in Mike's mind at least, who always treated him kindly and never threatened him with violence or harmful behavior. The worst she ever did was yell at him to "just grow up" in chapter 94. Don't get me wrong, NONE of it excuses his recent behavior, but it offers somewhat of an explanation.

Here's today's comic.

https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/

Yeah, Mike, yell at your friend who's trying to help you. That's definitely the right thing to do.

Yeah, it's official! Forget Darth Vader from Star Wars, this guy is turning into Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto while he was going through his Sanity Slippage phase. I think Abbey (possible, because he's been down a similar road too) and Sandy herself are the only two people who can get through to Mike at this point.

edited 5th Feb '18 10:16:02 AM by darklord2216

Here's a new page

https://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/

So, Daisy is having some regrets. Also, Paulo is getting put through the wringer.